Generally, the present invention is directed toward a new and improved ice-making apparatus of the type including a combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly having a substantially cylindrical freezing chamber with an auger rotatably mounted therein for scraping ice particles from the inner surface of the freezing chamber in order to form quantities of relatively wet and loosely associated ice particles. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward such an ice-making apparatus that preferably includes interchangeable head assemblies removably connectable to the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly and adapted to produce different types of ice products, including relatively dry loosely associated flake or chip ice particles or discrete compacted ice pieces of various preselected sizes merely by preselectively connecting the appropriate head assembly to the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly and performing simple adjustments. Additionally, the present invention is directed toward an ice-making apparatus which incorporates new and improved component, assemblies, and subassemblies, including a new combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly, a new auger member, and new ice breaking components, as well as other novel and inventive features.
Various ice-making machines and apparatus have been provided for producing so-called flake or chip ice and have frequently included vertically-extending rotatable augers that scrape ice crystals or particles from tubular freezing cylinders disposed about the periphery of the augers. The augers in some of such prior devices typically urge the scraped ice in the form of a relatively wet and loosely associated slush through open ends of their freezing cylinders, and perhaps through a die or other device in order to form the flake or chip ice product. Still other prior ice-making machines or apparatuses have included devices for forming the discharged slush into relatively hard ice in order to form discrete ice pieces of various sizes, including relatively large ice pieces commonly referred to as "cubes" and relatively small ice pieces commonly referred to as "nuggets". Such nugget ice pieces may have either a regular shape or an irregular shape, and are larger than flake or chip ice pieces, but are smaller than cube ice pieces. Nugget ice pieces are also sometimes referred to as "small cubelets". Still other ice-making devices have included mold-type structures onto which unfrozen water is sprayed or otherwise collected, frozen, and then released in order to form and dispense such ice cubes or ice nuggets.
Typically the ice-making machines or apparatuses of the type described above have been exclusively adapted or dedicated to the production of only one type and/or size of ice product, namely flake or chip ice, cube ice, or nugget ice. Therefore, if it was desired to have the capability of producing a variety of types and/or sizes of ice in a given installation, as many as three or more separate ice-forming machines or apparatuses were required. Such a situation has been found to be highly undesirable due to the relatively high cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining such separate ice-forming machines or apparatuses, and due to the relatively large amount of space required for such multiple installations. The need has thus arisen for a single ice-making machine or apparatus that is capable of being conveniently and easily adaptable to produce various types, sizes, or forms, of ice products, including flake or chip ice, cube ice, or nugget ice.
Furthermore, in the ice-making machines or apparatuses of the above-described type having a rotatable auger, such augers have frequently been machined out of a solid piece of stainless steel or other such material and thus have been found to be inordinately expensive and complex to manufacture, as well as being relatively heavy in weight and requiring a relatively powderful drive means that is expensive to purchase, maintain, and operate. Accordingly, the need has also arisen for an auger device that is less expensive and complex to produce and less expensive to operate.
Finally, in ice-making machines or apparatuses of the above-described types, the evaporator portions of the combination evaporator and ice-forming assemblies have frequently been found to be relatively large in size, relatively inefficient in terms of energy consumption, and relatively expensive to produce. Thus, the need has also arisen for an evaporator means having increased thermal efficiency, and therefore being smaller in size, and which is less expensive to manufacture.
An ice-making machine or apparatus according to the present invention includes a refrigeration system and a combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly preferably comprising at least a pair of interchangeable head assemblies removably connectable to the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly, each of said interchangeable head assemblies being adapted to produce different types and/or sizes of ice products, namely flake or chip ice, cube ice and/or nugget ice, for example. In the preferred form of the invention, such head assemblies are removably interchangeable and connectable to the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly without replacing or altering the outlet portion of the combination assembly, and are adapted to form their respective types and/or sizes of ice product from the relatively wet and loosely associated slush ice particles discharged from the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly. Preferably, at least one head assembly is adapted for producing flake or chip ice and includes means for conveniently and easily preselectively altering the amount of unfrozen water that is removed from the relatively wet and loosely associated slush discharged from the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly. Also preferably, one of the interchangeable head assemblies is conveniently and easily preselectively adaptable to produce discrete relatively hard ice products of either the cube or the nugget type, or various other preselected sizes. Preferably, this interchangeable head assembly includes a preselectively adjustable ice breaking apparatus for quickly and conveniently altering the size of the discrete ice products.
An ice-making machine or apparatus according to the present invention, whether or not including the above-discussed interchangeable head assemblies or other components, also preferably includes an auger member or assembly having one or more generally spiral flight portions thereon, with spirally misaligned, discontinuous, and/or circumferentially-spaced segments of the flight portion that serve to break up the relatively wet and loosely associated slush ice quantities produced in the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly. In one form of the invention, the auger member or assembly is preferably composed of a series of discrete disc elements or segments axially stacked on a rotatable shaft and secured for rotation therewith. Such discrete disc elements can be individually molded from inexpensive and lightweight synthetic plastic materials. In another form of the invention, the auger member or assembly includes a rotatable core onto which the auger body is integrally molded from a synthetic plastic material. In such embodiment of the invention, the spiral flight portion can be molded along with the remainder of the body of the auger or can be a discrete structure integrally molded therein.
An ice-making machine or apparatus according to the present invention, whether or not including the other inventive features or components described above, preferably includes a combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly having an inner housing defining a substantially cylindrical freezer chamber, an outer jacket spaced therefrom to form a generally annular refrigerant chamber therebetween, and generally annular inlet and outlet refrigerant manifolds at opposite ends thereof. In at least one preferred embodiment, the inlet and/or outlet manifolds include a distributor member that acts to relatively uniformly distribute the refrigerant flow around and throughout the annular refrigerant chamber, and to induce a desired turbulence to the refrigerant flow, in order to obtain a relatively uniform cooling effect. The refrigerant chamber can optionally include a plurality of discontinuities of fin-like members therein which further enhance the turbulent flow of the refrigerant material and substantially increase the effective heat transfer surface of the inner housing. The combination evaporator and ice-forming assemblies can optionally be adapted to be axially stacked onto one another in order to form a combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly having a preselectively variable capacity to suit a given application.
It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved ice-making machine, apparatus or system.
Anothe object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved ice-making machine, apparatus or system having the capability of being conveniently and easily adapted to form a variety of types and/or sizes of ice products, such ice products including flake or chip ice, cube ice, and/or nugget ice.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved ice-making machine or apparatus that is more dependable in operation, inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, and that requires less space in order to produce a variety of ice products in a single installation.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved ice-making machine, apparatus or system having reduced energy requirements by way of a new construction of the combination evaporator and ice-forming assembly, wherein portions and component parts and subassemblies are more efficient and/or are formed by molding a polymeric synthetic material such as plastic, and which possesses increased versatility and interchangeability of various components thereof.